Talking To Your Conscience
by Casey Toh
Summary: Batman has a talk with his own conscience and soul... it's not very good, so don't blame me for the rubbish...


# Disclaimer: All characters in this fan fiction belong to Warner Brothers. And this story is meant as pure, harmless fun.

This is my second fan fic so far, and I did all these to improve my English. As usual, any comments and/or criticism are most welcome.

# Talking To Your Conscience

_I let two more people get killed!_ Batman stepped on the accelerator of the highly versatile Batmobile. He turned the steering wheel to the right, hard, to avoid hitting the protective guardrail put at the edge of the long winding road up the cliff. At the summit, Batman got out and cursed the sky.

"I let two more die in a fire! I couldn't save them just because of an obstacle-the fire! Why? I don this suit to save and protect innocents from criminals, and I couldn't even do a simple thing like save them from a fire!" Batman punched the only tree on the summit, torrents of raging anger, guilt, helplessness and despair churning around in him.

Batman threw his hands up to the sky, and just at that moment, lightning flashed across the midnight blue spread in a bright streak. "So now you mock me, don't you?" he yelled at it. "Why don't you come down here to fight?"

Another bolt granted him his wish.

When Batman awoke, he was instantly aware of two things: he was not at the summit anymore, and he was unsuited and unmasked. Panic surged through his whole body, making him a little dizzy. 

He stood at the edge of one side of a cliff, looking down into a seemingly never-ending abyss, containing miniature lightning bolts zooming appearing from out of nowhere and running in a zigzag fashion, hitting either of the two cliff walls.

"Bruce," someone called out. It was an all too familiar voice.

He turned, and standing a few feet away from him was-himself. "Who are you? What do you want with me? Where am I?" _And he better answer fast before I put a fist in his face_, Bruce added mentally.

"You are currently in mental limbo, on the astral plane. The lightning that hit you sent your brain here, into yourself, into your own soul. But don't worry, you'll go back in due time, and your suit absorbed much of the shock," Bruce Two said.

"Just tell me who the hell are you," Bruce growled, feeling more uneasy every second.

"I'm your conscience," Bruce Two answered. 

_My conscience?_ Bruce laughed. "I actually have a conscience?" He stopped, and pondered on his own question, becoming serious. "I thought I lost it long ago."

"No, you just hid it away." Bruce Two came forward and faced Bruce. "You are too hard on yourself, Wayne. The pressure of being Batman is sending you over the edge, into insanity. You blame yourself for every little thing that you couldn't do; blame yourself for every person you couldn't save. 

Do you think you are God?"

"No, but I tried to make myself to be one," Bruce admitted. "The suit, the physical and especially mental training, are all designed to make me more invincible."

"Yes, and that is the problem. Bruce, however hard you try, you can _never_ be God. Those two that you couldn't save tonight? It was inevitable." Seeing Bruce about to argue, he continued on without giving him a chance. "I know. You ask yourself, 'What if I had been there?' But if you had been there to save those two from the fire, what about the five that were held hostages at the harbor? They would have been the ones killed instead."

"But I made a vow to save people from hurt, to alleviate their suffering. I have failed in my task."

Bruce Two pointed to the abyss. "You created the Batman to save innocents, but that's only the surface, the superficial truth. You created the Batman to protect yourself, to protect the eight-year-old Bruce that has never grown up, that is the real truth.

You have never really stopped falling into the abyss of despair, have you? On the surface, you seem calm, composed, always looking as if you know what you're doing, but inside, there's always an uncertainty. You are constantly afraid of what might happen if you fail."

"When have I started falling?" Bruce muttered, already knowing the answer to his own question.

But his conscience answered it anyway. "Since your parents were killed, and ever since you became Batman."

Listening to Bruce Two's words, he suddenly realized that he was right. _If I were to go any further blaming myself for everything, I will, sooner or later, step over the line into insanity._ "I have never stopped falling, because I lost hope, I lost love, I lost courage. I lost the courage to face the truth. I have been sealing myself in many layers of a false Bruce that I don't know who I am anymore."

"Then don't you think it's time you went the other way?" Bruce Two prodded. He pointed to a brilliant yellow-red sun just above the abyss. "To stop falling and come back up? To allow yourself to hope, to trust, to believe and to love again."

Bruce felt strangely awakened, and a new courage flowed through him. Courage to change himself into someone better. Courage to face the world as Bruce Wayne, and not as Batman.

Bruce Two smiled knowingly. He had appealed to Bruce's soul to stop torturing itself and the man was ready to make some changes. "So I reckon our talk is complete, for now."

Bruce smiled in return. "For now," he agreed. Then he felt like walking around for a moment in his own soul, and his conscience walked with him. They talked about things from Bruce's childhood, about his interests, and about his future.

Halfway through, Bruce felt as if his whole body was hurt, and his breathing became somewhat labored. Bruce Two knew that Bruce was regaining consciousness, and concluded their meeting with some last words.

"Remember that you have to balance the two, balance between Batman and Bruce Wayne. Don't lose hope. Alfred, Dick, Tim, Barbara and Jim are all there for you," he reminded.

There was a moment of intense pain, and Bruce left the astral plane.

Batman woke up, feeling stiff and achy all over. As his conscience had said, his suit protected him from the worst of the shock. 

He smiled, feeling like a new person, a person who had just found and understood himself.

Standing up and brushing the sand off, Batman prepared to head home to the comfort and love of Alfred, Dick and Tim.


End file.
